Criticism of the Translation.
Hoffmann’s translation is certainly not a contribution to scholarship. It is a sufficient condemnation of the volume to quote the words of the Vorwort:—
‘Die Uebersetzungen von Grein, Holder und Möller sind mir nicht zugänglich gewesen, auch wie es scheint, nicht sehr bekannt.’
It is not surprising that Hoffmann is unacquainted with the translations of Holder and Möller, as these works have never been made; but that a German translator should ignore the version of Grein is a revelation indeed.
Even though a translator may not care to embody in his work any new interpretations, it is nevertheless his duty to base his translation on the best text that he can find. But apparently Hoffmann had never heard of the Heyne editions of the text, nor of the Grein-Wülker Bibliothek. He bases his translation on Grein’s text of 1867. He evidently considered it a sufficient recommendation of his work to associate with it the name of Grein, not troubling himself to discover what advance had been made upon the work of that scholar.
Examples of antiquated renderings may be brought forward:—
| P. 1, | line 1, Wie grosse Ruhmesthaten. |
| 2, | line 1, So soll mit Gaben werben im Vaterhause schon. |
| 21, | line 15 (see Extract), Vom Wintersturm getrieben Hoch auf die Wellen schäumten. |
| 84, | line 3, Mothrytho. |
Petty inaccuracies due to the nature of the translation also appear. An example of this is seen on page 3, at the opening of the first canto—
Ueber Burg und Mannen nun herrschte manches Jahr
Beówulf der Schilding. Wie hold dem König war